Reality Check
Before we finish this book, we must address some obvious points. Even if we were to eat nothing but fruit, we would still end up killing other beings in the process. Maybe we eat some insects without noticing, or kill them with our car on our way to work. We still need to pull out invasive weeds from our garden, and our white blood cells must defend us from viruses and other threats.
That being said, there is a huge difference between killing a pig for a piece of bacon, simply because we like the taste, and killing a snake or a lion that is about to attack us. I think it is fair to defend ourselves, and it is fair to understand that accidents happen, some deaths are unintentional. As far as I understand, veganism, above all, is about being conscientious of other living beings, and doing the least amount of harm possible.
What are about mosquito bites? Should we let insects harm us even if it ain’t more than a tiny bite on our skin? This is something each person must answer for themselves. I tried to avoid killing mosquitoes but they get on my nerves, literary. On the other hand, when I come across spiders and flies, I let them live because they aren’t doing me any harm.
I am not an insect expert, but I know mosquitoes don’t need blood to survive; they need sugar and they can get it from flowers. On the other hand, female mosquitoes need blood to reproduce.
It all comes down to how much we value the mosquitoes life over our own comfort. My understanding is that mosquito populations are overgrown, due to increase animal farming and pollution, and find little remorse in taking their life. Other people find this wrong. We all have the right to see and believe as we do.
Perhaps it is more evolved to let mosquitoes bite us. Maybe we are better souls, if we walk to work to avoid killing insects on our way there. It may be more peaceful to let weeds take over our garden, or perhaps protecting out crops from weeds can be seen as a form of self-defense. Every person has their own beliefs and preferences that is fair.
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Acknowledgments
